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<H2 style="MARGIN: 3pt 0in"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"><SPAN class=328071313-02022006><FONT
size=2>FYI: Randi Doeker, Chicago</FONT></SPAN></SPAN></H2>
<H2 style="MARGIN: 3pt 0in"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"><FONT
face=Arial></FONT></SPAN> </H2>
<H2 style="MARGIN: 3pt 0in"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"><FONT
face=Arial></FONT></SPAN> </H2>
<H2 style="MARGIN: 3pt 0in"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Million-dollar grant to fix up
lake's 'kidney' <?xml:namespace prefix = o ns =
"urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p></o:p></SPAN></H2>
<P style="MARGIN: 3pt 0in"><?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns =
"urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" /><st1:date Month="2" Day="2"
Year="2006"><I><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">February 2,
2006</SPAN></I></st1:date><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">
<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 3pt 0in"><st1:City><st1:place><B><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Chicago</SPAN></B></st1:place></st1:City><B><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"> Sun-Times</SPAN></B><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"><o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 3pt 0in"><!--publication CST --><!--pub_section NWS page 10 last modified 2/1/06 10:29 PM--><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"><!--deck Hegewisch Marsh to receive hiking trails, environmental center -->Tucked
into the southeast corner of </SPAN><st1:City><st1:place><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Chicago</SPAN></st1:place></st1:City><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">, Hegewisch Marsh seems an odd
choice for a "coastal wetlands" federal grant of $750,000.
<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 3pt 0in"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Even if you count the shoreline of
</SPAN><st1:place><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Lake
Michigan</SPAN></st1:place><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"> as
a coast, the 140-acre marsh is nearly five miles from the lake.
<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 3pt 0in"><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">But
there was U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service chief Dale Hall at the
</SPAN><st1:place><st1:PlaceName><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Chicago</SPAN></st1:PlaceName><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"> </SPAN><st1:PlaceName><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Cultural</SPAN></st1:PlaceName><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"> </SPAN><st1:PlaceType><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Center</SPAN></st1:PlaceType></st1:place><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"> on Wednesday, symbolically signing
an oversized check for Mayor Daley and Illinois Lt. Gov. Pat Quinn.
<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 3pt 0in"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Hall said the restoration plan was
one of 19 to win </SPAN><st1:country-region><st1:place><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">U.S.</SPAN></st1:place></st1:country-region><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"> funding this year, beating out 21
competitors. It was chosen as one of only two urban projects -- the other is in
</SPAN><st1:City><st1:place><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Detroit</SPAN></st1:place></st1:City><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">. A 40 percent match from the city,
state, Conservation Fund and </SPAN><st1:place><st1:PlaceType><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Field</SPAN></st1:PlaceType><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"> </SPAN><st1:PlaceType><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Museum</SPAN></st1:PlaceType></st1:place><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"> will bring the contribution to
$1,260,540. <o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 3pt 0in"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Hegewisch Marsh may not be on the
lake, but it is part of the lake. Connected by the
</SPAN><st1:place><st1:PlaceName><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Calumet</SPAN></st1:PlaceName><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"> </SPAN><st1:PlaceType><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">River</SPAN></st1:PlaceType></st1:place><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">, it helps clean the lake by
filtering out pollution. "In a lot of ways, the marsh is one of the kidneys of
</SPAN><st1:place><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Lake
Michigan</SPAN></st1:place><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">,"
said Quinn. <o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 3pt 0in"><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">And
along with the other 10 wetlands in the 4,800-acre Calumet Open Space Reserve,
Hegewisch Marsh is a haven for endangered and threatened wildlife -- including
Blanding's turtle, </SPAN><st1:City><st1:place><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Franklin</SPAN></st1:place></st1:City><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">'s ground squirrel, the
yellow-headed blackbird, pied-billed grebe and black-crowned night heron.
<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 3pt 0in"><!--startsubhead--><B><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial"><FONT size=3>City going for Big
Marsh</FONT></SPAN></B><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">
<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 3pt 0in"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Plans for the site include woods,
savanna, meadows and sedge, hiking trails and scenic overlooks. It will be home
to the 24,000-square-foot </SPAN><st1:place><st1:PlaceName><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Ford</SPAN></st1:PlaceName><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"> </SPAN><st1:PlaceName><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Calumet</SPAN></st1:PlaceName><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"> </SPAN><st1:PlaceName><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Environmental</SPAN></st1:PlaceName><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"> </SPAN><st1:PlaceType><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Center</SPAN></st1:PlaceType></st1:place><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">, serving visitors and students from
22 schools within a 10-mile radius. <o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 3pt 0in"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Quinn said the marsh's proximity to
Interstate 80 will make it a national destination for tourists.
<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 3pt 0in"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">"Nature can come back to urban
areas," Daley said. "The idea that you have to travel far from the city to enjoy
nature? You don't have to any more." <o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 3pt 0in"><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">The
city is negotiating with Waste Management to buy an even larger wetland,
300-acre Big Marsh. <o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 3pt 0in"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Five years ago the city and state
put together the Calumet Land Use Plan out of mostly vacant space, much of it
polluted by a long-departed steel industry. Set aside in addition to the open
space reserve are 3,000 acres for industrial redevelopment.
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